I'm the Light One
by TheSongContinues
Summary: Based in the Operation Mongoose vers. This is my interpretation on how Belle met Rumple and fell in love with the light one. M for later chapters. Rumbelle
1. Chapter 1

_The ogres were approaching the castle. The guards were rushing the royal family away from the castle, concerned with safety of the royal family. They were more concerned with the safety of lady Collette, who refused to leave the large library, more concerned with finding her daughter than her own safety- she was a selfless woman, and that's why she was loved by the whole kingdom._

" _Where are you?" Lady Collette called for her daughter, there was little sign of fear in her voice, just urgency to get her daughter to safety._

" _I'm right here right here mother." Belle replied, clutching a book under her arm as she ran around a corner. Her voice had a little more fear in it than her mother. Immediately Collette began to smile, despite the sudden attack by the ogres, seeing her daughter safe brought her much happiness. "I'm… sorry but, I couldn't leave without this…" Belle's breathed, as she held the book 'Her Handsome Hero' to show her mother. "It's the, first story you ever read to me… It's what made me fall in love with books" Collette lifted a hand up to cup her daughter's cheek in an attempt to calm her._

" _Of course I remember…" Collette's voice was soft, although the urgency was still detectable in her voice. "Quickly we must flee, before…" The sound of loud footsteps approaching the library, shaking the room with each step. Both Collette and Belle looked up to the large library door, panic in their eyes as they took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down._

" _They're here."_

" _We will hide 'til they pass…" Her eyes were reassuring, all she wanted to do was make sure her daughter was calm in this situation._

 _They hid under a small table a few paces away from the library door. They held each other close, Belle's head was level with Collette's shoulder. They continued to breathe deeply, the adrenaline ran through their veins as they anxiously waited for the ogres to pass the library. Another footstep shook the room, and this one was right outside the door. Both women turned to face the door and Belle gasped. She hid behind Collette's shoulder as the ogre kicked down the door, shattering the door into millions of splinters. Collette turned to Belle, the panic growing by the second in Belle's face. Collette held a single finger to her own lips, and both women nodded._

 _The ogre circled the table, and Collette leaned forward to connect her forehead with Belle's momentarily, before Belle moved her head down to Collette's shoulder, seeking the comfort that a daughter would only look for in their mother. Collette wrapped an arm around Belle, holding her as they continued to watch the Ogre, which began to slowly walk away from the pair._

" _Shh…" Collette whispered to Belle, as they looked down to the ground, their heads next to each other as they continued to breathe deeply. "It's going to be alright."_

 _But she spoke to soon. The table was harshly lifted from the ground, and both Collette and Belle looked up to see the blind eyes of the ogre. The ogre screamed out, before darting his head down towards the women._

Belle's blue eyes shot open, and she awoke with a gasp.

"Mother!"

She darted from her position, leaning up from her soft and luxurious mattress. Her attention immediately turned to the white bandage wrapped around her wrist, the blood from the wound was coming through the dressing slightly, and it suddenly occurred … Of course she wanted the ogre attack just to be an extremely vivid nightmare, but despite how much she tried to convince herself, she knew it was real.

Her first thought was to go down stairs, to see her parents and the rest of the staff. It wouldn't hurt her to be around people, especially as she was in such a confused state, it might do her good to have familiar people around her at a time like this.

As she entered the great hall, she could sense something was off, due to a large number of people huddled around an identified object. Almost instantly, her father, King Maurice emerged from the crowd and towards Belle.

"Belle, why aren't you in bed?" Belle could hear the sadness in his voice. She was still extremely confused about the events of the previous nights.

"What happened? Where's mother?" She had so many questions she wanted, no- she _needed_ answered.

"You mean; you don't remember?" Maurice was in a strange way relieved that Belle couldn't remember the night's events, but he knew that she'd be curious, and Belle's curiosity could at times be extremely powerful.

"Remember what father?" She circled her father, but Maurice made sure to hold her tightly in his arms. He wanted to shield his daughter from the truth, but he knew that would be almost impossible- Belle would find out eventually. Her eyes fell on the crowd in front of her, and then on the coffin placed at the end of the room. She felt a wave of sadness hit her, and her grip on her father tightened. The tears began to form in her eyes and she immediately looked up to her father, seeking comfort from him.

"The ogre wars are over… but at a terrible price…" Maurice looked down to his daughter, her face pressed into his shoulder as the tears began to flow from her eyes. It took her a few seconds for her to be able to pull her head away from his shoulder, her face was now red due to her tears.

"How… how did they end?" The tears stopped spilling from Belle's eyes, as she felt a relief run through her body. But then the tears continued, her mother was dead, she could have been saved if whatever stopped the war, just a few seconds earlier. Maurice pressed his lips together, he hadn't originally planned to tell her- but honestly, he couldn't do that to his only remaining family member.

"Your mother… sacrificed herself to save you…" The crowd of people huddled around the coffin again, and Maurice moved around to face his daughter.

"But… how has the war stopped?"

"We contacted a knight last night… He's known as The Light One, an ogre slayer. He arrived in the library just after the ogre killed your mother…" His voice trailed off, the tears began to threaten his eyes again. He took a deep breath to compose himself, he wanted to remain calm in front of Belle.

"He used magic to kill the ogre… and once the ogre was dead he helped the guards carry you away from the library. I just received word from the front that the light one killed the final ogre..."

"But why didn't this light one come before?" Her voice was shaking; her emotions were conflicted. Half of her was happy, the war was over- but her mother, the one person who had always been there for her; was dead.

"Because we only contacted him last night… I don't like magic; you know that Belle. But a trusted source gave us the information and we contacted him straight away." Belle nodded in response. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Maurice, her father was all she had left. "Belle… the doctor suggests that you stay in bed for a few more days, just so you can recover… he was highly insistent…"

Belle didn't argue at his request, instead she nodded and turned around slowly. Before making her way towards the door. She felt everyone's eyes on her, they were all grieving in their own way, and they wanted to give Belle her space to grieve in her own way. As she reached the door, she spun on her heels to face her father.

"Could you arrange it for me to meet the knight who saved me? I think it's only fitting that I thank him in person…" Maurice nodded in response, smile gracing his lips as he continued to remain strong for his daughter.

Belle found herself back in her spacious room. She knew she was going to be in here for a couple of days, so she decided to find any book she can within the room to read whilst she was in the familiar room. Despite the words on the page in front of her, she could only think of meeting the man who saved her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Belle remained in her room for a few days. Every so often, boredom hit her and all she wanted to do was escape, but she knew it would be best for her to stay in her room. She began to read of different ways she could regain her memories of the death of her mother- being told the truth wasn't enough for Belle… she needed to fully remember. She read about the Rock Trolls of Arendale, and although for a small second she did consider running away from the castle and off to Arendale, she decided it'd be best if she stayed in the castle.

And then it occurred to her, that if her father was arranging it for her to meet the man who saved her, maybe he could return her memory. Belle didn't know the limits of the Light One's magic, so all Belle could do was hope, that the man she was so eager to meet would be able to recover the memories Belle was too eager to have back.

Since the death of her mother, her father had become even more determined to set Belle up. So without Belle's consent, she had become engaged to Gaston. Belle and Gaston were friends, not good friends- and she couldn't see him as anything other than a friend, especially not her husband. Belle knew her engagement would be coming soon, her mother was the only one stopping it, Collette was always against arranged marriages.

Belle found out of her 'engagement' when her father knocked on the door, and before Belle even had a chance to call the pair in they entered the room. Gaston carried a large bouquet, Belle could only assume that the flowers were from the village nearby, because she had never seen such flowers in the castle gardens. The ring had a large diamond, he was obviously trying to win her over with his money, and Belle didn't care for money- he was honestly too superficial for her. But her father didn't care about that, that was sort of the point with an arranged marriage.

She laid on bed, her stomach pressed against the soft mattress as she continued to read the copy of 'Her Handsome Hero' that she managed to rescue from the ruin of the library. It was around the fifth time she had read the book since she had been bed ridden, it felt like her mother was still with her as her eyes scanned over the familiar words, she could even hear her mother read out the words in her head. Her reading was interrupted by a knock at the door, and she sighed in relief as she realized that the knock was too light to be either her father or Gaston.

"Come in." Belle called out, placing a small drawing of her mother into the book to mark her page before closing the book, so her undivided attention could be on the person about to come in. Much to Belle's relief, it was Mrs. Potts, one of Belle's loyal maids.

"Good morning Lady Belle…" Her voice was cheerful, that's what Belle liked about Mrs. Potts- no matter how bad the situation was, she'd always have a smile on her face. In her hands, Mrs. Potts carried a tray containing Belle's normal cup of tea, and a bowl of porridge with honey drizzled over the top. Before Mrs. Potts placed the tray on the bed, Belle took the cup of tea and placed it on her bedside table.

"Good morning Mrs. Potts." Mrs. Potts smile was very contagious, and Belle couldn't stop herself from smiling at the woman she had known since she was a child. Mrs Potts placed the tray on the bed, and Belle immediately looked down to the bowl, smiling at the content.

"The doctor said you'd be free to leave your room tomorrow, and your father is holding a ball tomorrow night, in celebration of the war ending and your engagement." Mrs. Potts voice was quiet, and the smile immediately disappeared from her lips.

"So soon after mother's death?"

"Your father hopes that the ball will take everyone's mind off the death of Lady Collette…"

"But I can't go!" The tears began forming in Belle's eyes again. No matter how many times she cried, more tears came. Mrs. Potts sat on the edge of her bed, offering her arms out to Belle, which Belle took almost instantly. Belle's face immediately buried into her shoulder.

"Your mother would want you to go, she wouldn't want you to morn over her… she'd want you to keep a brave face and to celebrate the end of the wars that took so many lives… And I know that the Light One will be there…" Belle's head lifted off Mrs. Potts' shoulder, and Belle's eyes were wide. She brushed her hand against her now red face to wipe the tears away. She knew Mrs. Potts was right, her mother wouldn't want her to hold her life on hold just to morn her. She nodded in response, and Mrs. Potts pulled a clean handkerchief out of her pocket, immediately handing it to Belle.

She wiped her face with the soft fabric, and all she could remember was her mother drying her tears whenever she was scared, or particularly emotion.

"Mrs. Bigmouth will be here later today to get your dress fitted." Mrs. Potts whispered in a calming voice, and Belle nodded, wiping away the final tear from her now red skin. Mrs. Bigmouth was the personal clothes designer for the royal family. The household (both staff and family) called her Wardrobe, because they thought that the surname of Bigmouth was offensive.

The dress fitting didn't last too long. By now, Mrs. Bigmouth knew roughly all of Belle's measurements off by heart, and the pair had already discussed Belle's next royal ball gown a few weeks ago- Mrs. Bigmouth was always prepared. The only changes Mrs. Bigmouth needed to make to the dress was a few inches off the length of the dress to accommodate Belle's heeled shoes, and a tad taken off the waist. But by the end of the evening, Belle's dress was ready for tomorrow's ball.

It was yellow, Belle chose the colour yellow because it was associated with happiness… and that still seemed rather fitting to Belle- she needed something to cheer her up, she couldn't dwell on the death of her mother for much longer. She stared at herself in the mirror, and felt a small smile appear on her lips. Her fingers ran over the fabric of her dress, Belle was always impressed by the quality of silk Mrs. Bigmouth managed to obtain.

Despite tomorrow's party being for her engagement to Gaston, Gaston wasn't on her mind at all, in fact- Belle was doing everything she could to block Gaston away from her mind. All she could think about was meeting The Light One, the man who saved her life. Belle was eager to meet him, almost too eager. She tried to picture what he could possibly look like, but nothing came to mind… he was a complete mystery to her, and Belle couldn't wait to uncover the mystery.


End file.
